A Flourishing Community

Overview

The Hightstown Housing Authority gave us an insight on how they have created a flourishing environment for their residents. While providing the best quality of life to low income families, responsible consumptions and productions and the well being of other life around them have created a conscious and proactive community.

Authors

Jin Lee

Daniel Waggoner

Schgoofa Jalallar

Cassidy Vastano

Nicole Campana

School

Fairleigh Dickinson University at Florham

Professor

Gerard Farias

Innovation

Hightstown Housing Authority’s innovation is to serve the low income residents of the Borough of Hightstown, by providing the best quality of life for their residents. Hightstown puts a large focus on the use of LED lighting in their apartments, due to the fact that it saves energy and money. The people who work for Hightstown Housing Authority genuinely care for our environment and will always respect it. Hightstown is constantly improving the quality of the buildings where their residents live, bettering the education of the children who live inside of these homes, improving the impact that the community has on the environment by reducing storm water runoff, and most importantly always increasing the comfort inside the homes of their residents.

Until 2014, all of the lighting inside of their buildings was not “LED” lighting. Therefore, the light fixtures that were being used inside of these buildings were not saving energy for the environment or money for the people living there. In 2014, Hightstown Housing Authority converted 106 total light fixtures to “LED” lighting. This switch over was a very wise one for Hightstown, as they earned what equals a 1.7% payback annually.

Another key way that Hightstown Housing Authority demonstrates their genuine care for sustainability is by the company building four new ten square foot resident gardens for the growing of vegetables and flowers. Along with these gardens, the housing authority installed rain barrels with hoses for the usage of water for their residents.

Hightstown Housing Authority is constantly looking for positive change in our ever-changing world. Their positive changes revolve around the concept of remaining sustainable in the way that we live. Hightstown Housing Authority’s innovations has helped save money as well as energy, and achieve its goal in becoming a more sustainable environment.

Inspiration

The inspiration for the Hightstown housing authority stems from the management’s experience in meeting government budgetary regulation. Being conscious about the community’s consumption and production of natural resources caught the eye of the executive director, Allen Keith LeProvost. Keith stated, “we need more people to take the first step, give it a chance”, he sees the results on paper and every time he steps outside on the living grounds.

Reducing their costs and their energy use created a clean culture amongst the tenants that occupy the apartments. The business benefits financially every single year, but are inspired more to help the residents who live within their buildings. The people who work at Hightstown Housing Authority are genuinely satisfied by fulfilling the needs of low income residents who live in the borough of Hightstown. Inspiration influenced by many different factors for a business, but for Hightstown, they were inspired to create a sustainable living ground, and also to meet the government budgetary regulation.

Overall impact

Hightstown Housing Authority does many positive things for their community. The help and love that they distribute to all of the people that live in their buildings is what the overall impact of Hightstown is all about. The main objective for the people working at this housing authority is to better the earth while making sure their residents are as safe and comfortable as possible. Due to the things Hightstown Housing Authority does for the residents who live there, makes possible for these low income families to live in nice homes for very good prices.

All of Hightstown Housing Authority’s goals essentially break down into the betterment of the residents who live within the community. As long as the people who Hightstown is housing are comfortable and healthy, the overall impact of this housing authority is being achieved.

Business benefit

The business itself certainly benefits from these innovations. The Hightstown Housing Authority provide assisted living for tenants that live there which means they have to meet budgetary constrictions when making decisions. Every improvement the housing authority made, regardless of the intention of the decision, benefited the business. The installation of individual thermostats in the apartments rooms reduced the amount of gas used which in result lowers the utility cost. The improved usage of electricity and water result in the same beneficial matter.

By sponsoring all of these projects, the managers created a clean and conscious community. By ensuring that each tenant is provided with the best quality of life, the atmosphere is happy. The happier the tenants are the better the living condition get. This results in the community coming together to hold each other accountable for the conditions of the grounds. They start to take pride in where they live which then benefits the longevity of the housing authority. This is why the Hightstown Housing Authority has a waitlist year round.

Social and environmental benefit

The Hightstown Housing Authority benefits the society surround them by being sustainably conscious. The management of the housing authority make sure it is clear that the environment is a priority. By creating such an emphasis on the environment, the Hightstown Housing Authority created a culture that abides by the United Nation’s sustainable development goals. Their business is providing housing for low income families and individuals. With 100 units, a mixture of studios to 4 bedrooms, the Hightstown Housing Authority tackles the United Nation’s first sustainability goal; no poverty. They also address [GF1] the United Nation’s twelfth goal, responsible consumption and production, by replacing all their light fixture to LED lights, installing motion censored lights, and installed thermostats in each room to reduce energy waste. All the attention is influencing the families to take notice and adopt the practice of bettering the society they live in. The children who live in this housing authority also benefit from being exposed to the culture of taking what you need without taking from the future generation of children. Pollination gardens show children how sustainable societies grow and flourish, the children see firsthand how bees take from one garden and grow the other. This ultimately teaches lifestyles everyone can adopted, an ideal way of living, a flourishing society.

The Hightstown Housing Authority benefits the society by the action they take for the betterment of the environment. As mentioned, the installations they made to improve electric, gas and water consumption, monitors the output they create. They create less harmful output than the past years, and the housing authority sponsors many projects to oblige the nourishment of the very soil the community rest their heads. The simple action of installing birdfeeders on the living grounds promotes the ecosystem of the living species. The community is finding a way to coincide with the environment by proactively thinking about the betterment of the environment.

Interview

Allen Keith LePrevost, Executive Director

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Hightstown Housing Authority

Hightstown Housing Authority is a business that has over 100 apartments for low income residents living in the Borough of Hightstown. Their main aspiration and goal is to serve the low income families of Hightstown and let them receive a great quality of life. The people of Hightstown Housing Authority believe that their residents should be living comfortably for an affordable price, along with saving energy and protecting the earth that we live in. Saving energy and being financially smart are two of the main priorities for Hightstown’s business.